I learned about the importance of breakfast the hard way. I don’t have a degree in health and nutrition (or anything for that matter), but I can tell you from personal experience that not eating right has had negative consequences.

Up until freshman year, I never ate lunch or breakfast, and eventually I wasn’t even hungry. I had unintentionally trained my body to lower my appetite. I wasn’t sick. I was just horribly lazy–too lazy to make lunch and too lazy to go through the lunch line.

After a while, the constant fatigue led to me coming home and sleeping until dinner and still being too tired to do my homework, and my grades began to drop. It wasn’t until I consulted someone in the medical field that I realized what I was doing wasn’t healthy.

There are many studies and conclusive experiments proving that breakfast is important, but even though it is scientifically proven, many people disagree and say it has no value? What do studies and experimentation have to say?

According to Rush University Medical Center, one of the advantages of eating in the morning is “having better performance (memory and attention), [especially] for school-aged children.” So ultimately, breakfast can be a key to success.

This is backed up from a study performed on 5,000 children (ages 9-11) in 2015 by Cardiff University in the United Kingdom. The results show that kids are twice as likely to score higher than average grades if they start the day with a healthy breakfast.

Payton Twiford, Class of 2020,  has a younger twin brother and sister, who she often keeps a close eye on.  She is also very involved in school and after school activities.

She also makes sure to fill her stomach before she leaves the house every morning. Whether it be a granola bar, oatmeal, a breakfast sandwich, she says it “all depends on [her] mood.”

Kaitlyn White, Class of 2020, is another student who leads a hectic life and is often seen eating a bagel or simply some yogurt every morning for breakfast. Not only does she attend her late practices most the week for varsity cheer, she also has a part-time job.

What we eat for breakfast is even more important than if we eat.  

At Dunkin Donuts the morning times during the school year are way more crowded due to all the students trying to grab a last minute breakfast. And their “breakfast” is one or many cold drinks, high in sugar and fat and caffeine. Which, according to The Washington Post journalist, Jill U. Adams, besides the obvious sleep disruptions can cause “agitation, upset stomach, and heart palpitations.” And this is only the short term effects.

Mrs. Racheal Easterday, physical education teacher, has taken numerous nutrition classes to obtain her fitness degree.

Every day she practices healthy eating habits by usually eating high fiber/protein meals and having her kids eat everyday before breakfast, too. As a gym teacher, she has had more students now than before using the excuse of not eating that morning for their lack of participation. She says she gets the excuse maybe 2-3 times a week.

Coffee and coffee based drinks are not a decent substitute for a well balanced meal. “You don’t have the calories [to get you through the day] you’re kind of slow, lethargic,” said Easterday. She then goes on to say that there are actually studies suggesting and proving that eating breakfast increases metabolism, which therefore prepares a student to learn.

Easterday recommends that eating something high in protein, vegetables, and energy is the best thing to eat in the morning.

It isn’t a coincidence that successful people eat breakfast.

If breakfast isn’t for you, it’s important to at least eat healthy snacks.

As Jean-Jacques Rousseau once said, “the stronger the body, the more it obeys; the weaker the body, the more it commands.” So do whatever you do to suit yourself, just keep your temple strong.